The fatcats’ huge pay-outs add up to more than a compensation fund set up for householders sold unsuitable power deals

Four bosses at energy giant SSE were awarded over £5m in bonuses... as skint customers paid rip-off tariffs.

The fatcats’ huge pay-outs add up to more than a compensation fund set up for householders sold unsuitable power deals.

Labour last night called for the bonuses to be paid back to the firm, which has eight million customers and is the UK’s second largest energy supplier.

Just two weeks ago it was fined a record £10.5m after regulator Ofgem found there had been “prolonged and extensive misselling”.

Twenty-three thousand customers were duped into switching from other suppliers but ended up on higher tariffs. The fund for compensation is worth £5m.

The ­bonuses, paid while misselling was at its worst, total £380,000 more.

Labour’s shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said the bonuses should be repaid and money used to cut bills.

He said: “Hard-pressed families and pensioners struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills will not understand how SSE bosses can get away with paying themselves ­millions in bonuses for the period when they’ve been caught out ripping people off.

“The people responsible for this scandal should not be awarded for failure. SSE’s top bosses should do the right thing and pay their ­bonuses back.”